Final reflections from 30,000 feet..................

12^th April

So I am on the plane headed for London and will be back on English soil in a few hours (following a short touch down on Italian soil in Rome as this is the way the Ethiopian airlines routing to Europe works). My "adventure" is coming to an end and although I have no regrets at all about coming to Ethiopia, I have reached the stage where I am ready to be home.

People I meet are often admiring of the fact that I have done charity work in Ethiopia (they are all Ethiopians) and are surprised when I point out that the experience has been one of mutual benefit and I also suggest that they should be aware that people who undertake such work actually have an agenda of their own that they are fulfilling although I acknowledge (as is true for me) that it is not always possible to verbalise exactly what this agenda is- one thing I do know is that I come back from Ethiopia a slightly different person to the one who went- whether I am a better person is not for me to judge but I certainly have face up to things both professionally and personally that I had not face before. There are so many ways that I could reflect on my time in Ethiopia and the half-time reflections that I made previously all still stand but at this point I am now in a position to look back on my time as a memory and also to look forward to being home.

Things that I will miss (which are often also things that could go in to a thing to remember category):

-       The warm smiles of people everywhere in Ethiopia- this is a universal feature both in Gimbi and everywhere we travelled to. I know that by nature I am rather a serious person (given to a frown rather than a smile as a natural expression) but I would swear that I have learned to smile more due to the need to return the gesture virtually constantly and perhaps because it is infectious.

-       The wonderful birdlife- Ethiopia has the most amazing variety of endemic & migrating birdlife. Whilst not a particularly enthusiastic bird-watcher, their constant song is a reminder of what a terrible place the world would be without their presence.

-       The warm sunshine- definitely not sorry to have missed such a bad winter (catching up on magazines one estimate says the worst for 23years). The climate in Ethiopia in January through March is lovely as the days were rarely too hot, rain was limited to the occasional short tropical downpour and clear blue skies were common. Sadly as it was a working trip (and the holiday definitely didn't include sunbathing destinations) my tan is limited to face, arms and feet but at least I look healthy.

-       New friends both Ethiopian & "Faringe" that I made- keeping in touch is always difficult but I hope to do my best!

-       Living a simple life with more time for reading, writing and thinking about life. This includes getting away from deadlines at work and at home, which seem to be ever present in my life.

Things that I would prefer to forget (i.e. the lows of the trip that unfortunately will probably constitute the most lasting memories as the emotions they evoke are strong):

-       The initial feelings of terrible homesickness so bad that it is the one thing that might prevent me from doing it all again. A period away from home is a reminder of the importance of family and friends as you realise just how much you miss everyone when contact becomes difficult.

-       When children broke into my bungalow in Gimbi in my third week (didn't write about it in my blog as it felt too negative at the time and thankfully I lost only the sort of items children would steal and nothing of great value). It was countered by the heart-felt apologies of everyone in the hospital and the humour of the response to it which was to pay the police to round up all the children in the compound who were not meant to be there (at that stage it was common to get them knocking on doors to ask for money or food) on the basis that although not all perpetrators they almost certainly knew who the culprits were and to take them all to the police station where they solemnly thumb-printed a document that they were told stated that they understood if they were found on the compound again without reason they would be arrested. Ethiopian discipline is stern but it solved the problem for everyone as the door-to-door begging ceased immediately.

-       Having food poisoning one night at the end of my first week in Gimbi when I lived alone in my bungalow, I was on-call with Tekle away so no option but to soldier through. This also created anxiety that this would be a regular occurrence but thankfully it has not been the case- in spite of eating in local restaurants regularly with the exception of one other brief episode I have been well throughout- it will amaze you all to hear that I even drank tap-water (though this was filtered) as Ethiopia has a clean water supply in towns.

-       The one maternal death that I encountered which will stay with me forever- one maternal death may not sound like a big deal  for a doctor but in 22years as an obstetrician I had previously been directly involved with the care of only three women who died in pregnancy  (and can still tell you the details of each of them). Maternal death remains a tragedy on so many levels that if I ever fail to feel the emotion of failure associated with failing to save a woman it is a sign that I have become too hard and it will be time to do something else. I feel thankful that it was only one as I know from email correspondence that in the 2 weeks since I left a further death has occurred in a woman at term with very high blood pressure (eclampsia).

-       The terrible roads but enough said as I have mentioned it so often before.

-       The poverty that is Ethiopia- this is a thing that I put in this list but will be impossible to forget nor would it would be appropriate to try. During our holiday Mark and I considered other poor countries we have travelled to and concluded that Ethiopia is the poorest (Madagascar & Mozambique are close seconds), this is a country where even a discarded plastic water bottle is a cherished item and villagers will almost fight to be the recipient of a bar of "hotel" soap. On the positive side the people appear happier than in many countries almost content with what they have rather than struggling with aspirations against terrible adversity. The poverty that is everywhere such that the radiant smile & wave from many children turns quickly into an outstretched palm and a "1 birr", "1 pen" or "highland" (the latter a used water bottle) request. The need is so great that the only way is to decline as to give individually as this could create a localised riot of need (we witnessed this with one tourist giving out pens & our guide giving soap) and reinforces the benefits of begging. However much you rationalise it you end up feeling terribly guilty for being rich and at the same time powerless to know what the answer is to change things (with many much more knowledgeable people than me struggling with this question in aid agencies all over the world).

Well I could keep going on any of these lists but as this is already one of the longest blog in the series it is time to draw to a close. My blog has been a great discipline (although sometimes it created the deadlines I was happy to avoid)- I started it for me as it seemed a good way of documenting the things that I saw around me but I have been enormously flattered by the number of people who have bothered to read it- so thank you to all of you.

Also a big thank-you for the generous support that many of you have given to Maternity Worldwide via my Just Giving site- my time has confirmed that it is a very worthwhile charity that is making a big difference to the lives of pregnant women in the West Wollega, who due to the Safe-birth fund feel able to come to the hospital when they encounter problems.

Three months in a country creates an affection and understanding of it that it is not possible to achieve on a shorter holiday and so I feel sure that whilst Ethiopia is not a country begin a "love-affair" with, I will definitely go back there in one way or another in the future and at that stage I will resume my blog again!

Happy to see tarmac again.................

11^th April

Now back in Addis again after our two weeks of travelling and on the eve of my departure from Ethiopia back to the UK. I have to admit to being ready to go home now as although travel is always a wonderful experience-you always want to be home in the end. This will also be my penultimate blog, this one to document briefly our holiday with a final blog on the reflections of my whole time in Ethiopia (should keep me occupied for some of the 9-hour flight tomorrow).

We have had two amazing weeks of travel that were complete contrasts to one another:  In the first week we travelled south into a place called the Omo valley. Illona (Steppes Travel - an advert as they have a link to my blog on their website) recommended that we include this trip in the itinerary but did caution that it was for people with a spirit of adventure and that we would need to be flexible as things might change and to "go with the flow" - I had assumed that this comment was meant metaphorically but it turned out to also have a more literal meaning! The best time to visit the Omo doesn't technically include late March and certainly from mid-April visits are not recommended as the roads become impassable as the rainy season, which begins in May throughout most of Ethiopia arrives earlier in the Omo valley.

South Omo is a bit like the land that time forgot- it is stunningly beautiful with rolling hillsides, sparse population and dense green forests, although the temperatures reach very high levels in the summer, courtesy of the plant life being drought resistant and periodic very heavy rainfall the area remains verdant year round (not really what you are expecting in a country notorious for drought and famine) - the landscapes are such that a dinosaur or two would not look out of place wandering the vast landscapes and this would be in keeping with the tribal people of the area who live a pastoral life (a large herd of cows marks out a man of wealth) and for whom the comforts of even the 11^th century (dragging back school memories of descriptions of life around the time of the battle of Hastings!) have yet to reach (although beer and coca cola are the notable exceptions to this). Visiting the different and often isolated tribes is the reason that tourists visit the South Omo valley.

The travelling was difficult in the extreme with severely rutted, muddy (doesn't really begin to describe it) roads with the additional problem of numerous streams/small rivers to cross. At one stage we had to leave the car on the banks of a newly formed "wadi" river for two nights and wade across with backpacks (new experience for us) and walk to our hotel. Thankfully the car was good and the driver skilled (although we did requiring towing out of a ditch by a second 4x4 on one occasion).

The tribes we visited are straight out of National Geographic and although you know that there are people who continue to live in this way it is still hard to believe when witnessed first hand. As an example of ways of life we can't even begin to comprehend we witnessed what is called a "bull-leaping ceremony". This is the occasion where a teenage boy (14-15 years) from the Hamer tribe in order to prove his bravery (and thus eligibility to chose a bride - read this how you will!) must jump (in reality run along the backs) stark naked of a row of large (particularly the horns) cattle - one slip of the foot would have disastrous consequences. If this isn't bizarre enough prior to this act (which takes only a few minutes) all the women in his family put themselves forwards to be whipped with birch branches (drawing blood) as a sign of their devotion to him and other men in the family.  It was fascinating although I have to confess some qualms about being an observer on such occasions and I still can't quite get my head around it all. As the Tribal people are pastoralists and subsistence farmers they are incredibly poor even by Ethiopian standards (we sheltered from the rain in the hut of a family who appeared to have no other material possession apart from a single cooking pot). This creates an unexpected commercialism where the old maxim of responsible tourism ("take only photos - leave only footprints") doesn't apply as these incredibly photogenic people have realised that their image has a value. As a result every photograph taken must be negotiated and paid for.  This creates difficulties as although the fees they ask are in reality small (1-5birr=5-25p) it feels wrong to be singling out an individual from a group as more worthy of a photograph that the others but as the birr do eventually run out this is what you must do.

The second week of our holiday was in the North of Ethiopia. We flew a number of legs of the journey and thus avoided the long road journeys that were unavoidable in the first week. We still had a number of excursions by four wheel drive minibus  (much less comfortable that a 4x4) over terrible roads and this has left us concluding that one thing we will not miss on return home is Ethiopian roads (from previous blogs you will know I had probably reached this conclusion already). The landscapes of the north are completely different to the south with vistas much more in keeping with expectations of what Ethiopia should look like. Rugged, rocky, biblical type landscapes that are very dry and although not desert support little in the way of vegetation. This is the Ethiopia that can be severely affected by drought as if the rains fall to come then the livestock die as they are unable to find any food and the limited crops fail resulting in widespread famine.

So the amazing thing is that in this bleak and remote landscape early Christians built monolithic rock churches (like those in Petra in Jordan) and 16-18^th century Ethiopian Emperors held their courts. All this creates more heritage than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa put together. Even more amazing (and rather sadly) is the fact that relatively little seems to be known about it all including why it all developed here (churches particularly) - this maybe due to the difficulties in access for foreign archaeologists or simply that there are more pressing humanitarian projects demanding funding in Ethiopia.

There is no doubt that travel like many things in Ethiopia is difficult but at the same time very rewarding for the effort- the hospitality culture exists even amongst people who own virtually nothing and they remember something I sometimes think that we may have forgotten in the west- offering a smile of welcome to a stranger is free!

 

An Ethiopian fable.............

26^th March

Kumara the Maternity Worldwide driver who drove us to Addis told us an Ethiopian fable- A donkey, a goat and a dog decided to take a journey on a bus- the donkey solidly paid his fare, the goat avoided the conductor and didn't pay and the dog paid his fare but the conductor forgot to give him his change. This is the why donkey feels that he now owns the road and moves only slowly and reluctantly for anyone, goat on the other hand is mindful that he still owes someone his fare and so runs at the sight of any vehicle lest he be asked to pay, this just leaves poor old dog chasing every van that goes past in an attempt to get his change! The fable doesn't seem to include sheep or cow but they tend to behave like goat and donkey respectively. Nor does the fable mention small boys who also love to practice their sprinting skills and run along side the vans for as long as possible (which is often quite a long time and must partly explain why the Ethiopians are such formidable contestants in International athletics these days).

The fable was told to as we were setting off on the journey from Gimbi to Addis, which is the fourth and final time I had to make this trip- as least for the foreseeable future. This trip was better than previous as Kume made good time (he is known for his love of multiple coffee stops but this journey we kept to two) and so with a 6am (well 6.15am after a bit of faffiing about and a few goodbyes) we arrived in Addis at 3pm- in time for to start luxuriating in the comforts available in the Sheraton including a swim and a gin & tonic (complete with ice & lemon i.e. with no missing ingredient which was a first since my last trip to Addis).  I am not sorry to have finished this last journey safely as the road trips to and from Gimbi were the only part of my adventure that ever felt dangerous. Thankfully if/when I return to Gimbi the road will be improved as the Chinese road building project is under way to finish the middle section that is currently so worn that it is much worse than travel on a mud or rubble road where the surface is at least predictably poor unlike the current irregular pot-holes- that just leaves a requirement for an improvement in driving standards (in particular the blind faith that nothing will coming the other way when overtaking will only yield appropriate returns if the roads stay quiet) and someone to control the cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs and apparently suicidal pedestrians (so frankly I am not holding my breath that the journey will be anything other than safer by virtue of the fact that it is quicker, so you are in harms way for a shorter time).

My time in Gimbi has been rewarding on so many levels that I don't discount the possibility of returning at some point in the future and this fact made it easier to say goodbye when the inevitable refrain from people was "when will you be coming back?" allowing me to say with honesty that I hope I will come back one day although omitting to add that the realities of my work in the UK are that this is unlikely to be for a number of years.